HomeNewsCreate a printable 3D model of any object using only a camera and Web browser

Create a printable 3D model of any object using only a camera and Web browser

August 1, 2013

Volumental‘s 3D Scan-to-Print web app will be the world’s first browser-based, 3D-printable model creator. The idea is to scan (and later, print) a 3D object as easily as printing a document, using just a depth camera (such as a Kinect*) and computer browser.

The team just launched a Kickstarter. “We need $20,000 in funding to hire a dedicated developer for this project as well as to fund upgrades needed in server and processing hardware. We estimate that the app will take 3 months to develop.”

Volumental was founded in 2012 as a spinoff from a research project called Kinect@Home at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. The team behind the innovative technology combines expertise in 3D reconstruction, computer vision, programming, and business development to allow users easy access to the 3D revolution.

It seems they plan to use a Pay per use service, so with Kickstarter you pay about $100 for 100 downloads, or $500 for 5 years unlimited downloads. I am not sure if you have to pay for your own files created or the download fee is any different to download other people’s creations.

I got this reply today from them today after a few more question on pricing and public vs. private models you upload or download and thought I should share that feedback here to be helpful….

Dear GatorALLin,

Yes, that’s the basic idea for the Kickstarter campaign, the price will be higher when the project is complete and no longer on Kickstarter. So if you select the $100 reward, you can download one of your 100 models and print it 10 times on your printer and you would still have 99 downloadable 3D models left. So, if you had one object you wanted to print 1,000 times, it would only cost you one download.

Downloading 1 file whether it is yours or another user’s public model would remove 1 download permission from your account.

Yes, you can toggle between private and public models, so that you can share some models publicly while keeping others private.
—Joe—